Making Twitter Useful

As far as web geeks go, I may be a little anti-social. I visit Facebook once a week, at most. I don’t even bother with Myspace anymore unless someone else calls my attention there. I don’t have many photos to post to Flickr, I don’t usually recommend links via Del.icio.us (mostly because the people I’m networked with usually beat me to the link), Digg is no longer even an RSS feed and I post to Twitter only once every few days.

But I maintain these connections, cause you just never know.

For example, I’m a “twitter-follower” of the NYT. I get instant messages with links to new stories. I’ve found that this means I actually read them, instead of skipping over the headline and lede in Google Reader.

Last week, the Orlando Sentinel made an account with Twitter, and used it to track and update the launching of Atlantis. The best part is, they didn’t just “tweet” shuttle-related updates.

“Fours hours until launch and all anyone is talking about is Paris Hilton’s meltdown in court and her return to jail. Sigh.”

So having resisted Twitter, finally given in, and being a lukewarm user at best, why does this rock my socks?

Because I wasn’t within reach of TV or computer on Friday. I got those updates as text messages on my phone. And being addicted to being in the know, that just made my day.

The lesson here is that some weird and funky things take off in the online world. News outlets should join in the fun.

Interesting… frieds tell me I have to start twittering and if I do I should give it some time to see the benefits. And then there’s Facebook… I think it’s important for journalists to understand how these sites work, but at the same time I’m worried about the time aspect. For one, I work so much and constantly wish I had more time to spend on my blog where I do have a vibrant community of fellow media junkies – very valuable to me.

Interesting… frieds tell me I have to start twittering and if I do I should give it some time to see the benefits. And then there’s Facebook… I think it’s important for journalists to understand how these sites work, but at the same time I’m worried about the time aspect. For one, I work so much and constantly wish I had more time to spend on my blog where I do have a vibrant community of fellow media junkies – very valuable to me.

Kristine, I know the feeling. And I think you’re right. If you don’t have the time or the inclination, it’s not a big deal. Just make sure you keep these things in mind so that when the opportunity to use them arises, you’re ready.

Kristine, I know the feeling. And I think you’re right. If you don’t have the time or the inclination, it’s not a big deal. Just make sure you keep these things in mind so that when the opportunity to use them arises, you’re ready.

About

I'm looking for my next opportunity to solve user interface problems and make an impact. Currently, I'm teaching code to high school students with CodeNation (formerly ScriptEd) and I'm a contributor on a mobile canvassing app called Reach. Some of my projects are on GitHub. I blog about what I'm learning and random tidbits that catch my fancy. Contact me at mtaylor@megantaylor.org